WEDNESDAY, MARCH 5  |  7:00 P.M.  |  STROH CENTER  |  BOWLING GREEN, OHIO

JUMP BALL
• The Bowling Green State University women's basketball team closes out the home portion of the schedule as the regular season winds down. Head coach Fred Chmiel and the Falcons, winners of seven of the last nine games, host Kent State University in Mid-American Conference action on Wednesday (March 5). Tipoff is set for 7:00 p.m. at the Stroh Center.

FOLLOW THE FALCONS
• There are many ways to keep up with the Falcons in 2024-25...

• TV/VIDEO: Wednesday's KSU game will be streamed via ESPN+.
• RADIO/AUDIO: The KSU matchup, as is the case for all of BGSU's 2024-25 games, is scheduled to have an audio stream thanks to Falcon Media Sports Network.
• LIVE STATS: Live stats are scheduled to be available for all games in '24-25.
• TWITTER/X & THE 'GRAM: In-game updates, along with other key information, can be found on the BGSU women's basketball Twitter/X account (@BGSUWBB), with periodic updates on the program's Instagram account (bgsuwbb) as well.

• For all of the pertinent links to any and all ways to follow the Falcons, go to BGSUFalcons.com and navigate your way to the "women's basketball schedule" page on game day.

LAST TIME OUT: HUSKIE COMEBACK ENDS BGSU'S FIVE-GAME WIN STREAK
• Chelby Koker scored 23 of her game-high 28 points after halftime, leading Northern Illinois to a comeback victory over the Falcons on Saturday (March 1). The Huskies prevailed, 84-77 in double-overtime, at the NIU Convocation Center.

• All five starters scored in double digits for the Falcons (16-12, 9-7 MAC). Johnea Donahue led the way with 18 points, just one shy of her career high, while Paige Kohler and Amy Velasco scored 17 and 16, respectively.

• Erika Porter had 12 points and a game-high nine rebounds, with Lexi Fleming scoring 10 points.

• In addition to Koker's 28 points, the Huskies (13-15, 6-10 MAC) got 19 points from Lexi Carlsen, with Sidney McCrea adding 13.

• The Falcons led for much of the game, but the Huskies battled back in the fourth quarter, tying the game on a McCrea three-pointer with just over a minute to go. Donahue's layup with 42.5 seconds remaining put the Falcons back in front. In the waning seconds, a corner three by McCrea was off the mark, but Coker put the ball back up and in as the buzzer sounded, sending the game to overtime.

LAST HOME GAME: OFFENSIVE ONSLAUGHT OBLITERATES OHIO, 91-61
• The Falcons hit a school-record 18 three-point field goals last Wednesday evening (Feb. 26), in a 91-61 dismantling of Ohio at the Stroh Center.

• On Senior Night, fourth-year Falcon Amy Velasco had a double-double, with 22 points and 11 assists. Sophomore Paige Kohler also scored 22 points and dished out six assists, as the Falcons (16-11, 9-6 MAC) had 26 assists on 31 field goals in the win.

• Lexi Fleming and Erika Porter, the two players who were recognized along with Velasco in Senior Night festivities prior to tipoff, each scored 12 points in the victory.

• Three Falcons – Kohler (six), Velasco (five) and Fleming (four) – made at least four three pointers each.

• BGSU had a whopping 43-22 rebounding advantage in the win, and the Falcons outscored the Bobcats in each of the four quarters.

• The Falcons shot 61.5 percent from the field in the first half, rolling up a 50-27 lead at the intermission. BGSU wound up shooting over 50% from the floor for the second-straight game, finishing with a 31-for-58 (53.4%) performance. BG went 18-for-36 (50%) from the arc.

THREE-MENDOUS
• The Falcons' total of 18 three-point field goals made against Ohio, as mentioned, broke the school record. BGSU had made 16 triples on no fewer than eight previous occasions, most recently against Furman in March of 2022.

SHARING IS CARING
• The Falcons recorded a season-high assist total in the Ohio game (Feb. 26), with 26 assists on 31 field goals. That total is the Falcons' highest in over two years, since BG dished out 26 assists in a win at Buffalo on Jan. 25, 2023.

• BGSU is 7-0 this season when recording 20 or more assists in a game.

PASSING THEIR BOARDS WITH FLYING COLORS
• BGSU had a whopping +21 rebounding advantage in the win over Ohio (Feb. 26), with a 43-22 lead on the boards. It marked the fifth time this season that the Falcons have out-rebounded the opponent by 18 or more.

• BGSU has now had a rebounding margin of +18 or better a total of 33 times since the 1994-95 season (single-game records prior to '94-95 are incomplete). The 2024-25 campaign marks the first time in that 30-year span that the Falcons have had five such games in a season. The 2021-22 Falcons had four such games.

• After out-rebounding Arkansas by 18 (41-23) in the final game of November, the Falcons began December with a 45-25 advantage on the boards against Xavier. That had marked the first time since at least '94-95 that BGSU had a +18 rebounding margin or better in back-to-back games.

• The Falcons were +20 on the boards in the first Ohio meeting (Jan. 15), and BGSU was +21 at Arkansas State (49-28; Feb. 8).

VELASCO'S ON A VERY SHORT LIST
• Amy Velasco enters the KSU kerfuffle with career totals of 1,491 points and 482 assists at BGSU. She is one of only two players in program history to score more than 1,400 points and dish out more than 400 assists.

• The only other player in that exclusive club is BGSU Hall-of-Famer Kate Achter, who had 1,580 points and a school-record 688 assists from 2004-08.

EP = ELITE PERFORMER
• It's no secret that Erika Porter can shoot the ball well. How well? Very well. So well, in fact, that she has already set several school records and is on pace for another.

• Last season, Porter shot 66.3 percent from the field, making 159 of her 240 shots to set a new school single-season record in that category. In fact, she broke not only the BG record, but the MAC single-season mark as well, and she ranked second in the entire nation in field-goal percentage a year ago.

• Porter shot 68.2% from the field in MAC games last season, making 107 of her 157 attempts. She shattered that BGSU record (65.5%, Talita Scott in '92-93) and fell just shy of breaking the conference mark (68.9%, Buffalo's Heather Turner in 2006-07).

• Now, Porter is on pace to shatter another BGSU record – the school career record for field-goal pct. Entering the KSU game, Porter has shot 60.8% (276 of 454) from the field in her BG tenure – well ahead of the current record of 57.0% (Jacki Raterman, 1995-99). At the risk of being mentioned by @OldTakesExposed, we'll just go ahead and say it – Porter is a virtual lock to break this record.

• The complete list of BGSU career FG pct. leaders can be found on page 25 of the PDF version of these notes.

PK10 GETS IT DONE
• Sophomore Paige Kohler has stuffed the stat sheet on multiple occasions this season. Kohler had 28 points, seven rebounds and seven assists to lead the team in all three categories in a win over Akron on Jan. 29. That came two weeks after she flirted with a triple-double at Ohio (Jan. 15), with 18 points, eight rebounds and eight assists.

• She began February with a team-best 17 points in a win at Central Michigan (Feb. 1), including arguably the biggest bucket of the game. With under a minute to play and the Falcons leading by a single point, Kohler hit a long three-point attempt to give BGSU a 71-67 lead with 42.0 seconds to go.

• Beginning with the Akron contest, she led the Falcons in scoring in each of four-straight MAC games. More recently, Kohler tied for game honors with 22 points against Ohio last Wednesday night (Feb. 26).

• Kohler, who has started all 59 of BGSU's games since her arrival on campus, heads into the KSU game with impressive career totals of 710 points, 256 rebounds and 207 assists. She currently ranks 14th in BGSU history in career scoring average (12.03 ppg), and is eighth in career assists per game (3.51).

THE FLEMING FACTOR
• Lexi Fleming has been a B!G part of the Falcons' success since arriving at BG. The MAC Freshman of the Year in 2020-21, Fleming missed the entire '21-22 season due to injury, but returned to the court in 2022-23 and saw action in 36 games as BGSU went 31-7. She was injured in December of 2023 and missed nearly an entire year, before returning to the court for this season's Xavier game (Dec. 7).

• In the seasons in which Fleming has been healthy for the majority of the year (i.e., more than 10 games), the Falcons' records are as follows...
    • 2020-21:    21-8, 14-4 MAC (MAC regular-season champions; WNIT)
    • 2022-23:    31-7, 14-4 MAC (T-second in the MAC; WNIT Fab Four)
    • 2024-25:    16-12, 9-7 MAC (heading into Wednesday's KSU game)

• Fleming surpassed the 1,000-point mark last month (Jan. 18). She became the 32nd player to reach that plateau, and she did so in her 82nd career game, tying her for the ninth-fastest player to reach the millennium mark in program history.

• Entering the KSU game, Fleming has played in a total of 93 contests as a Falcon. BGSU has a record of 67-26 in those 93 games, including a 36-15 ledger in MAC regular-season play, a 40-17 mark in all games (regular season and tournament) against conference foes and a 33-8 record at the Stroh Center.

• Four of those losses have come against nationally-ranked opponents, including a game at Indiana (Dec. 22, 2023), when Fleming played just 70 seconds before leaving due to injury. Heading into that IU game, Fleming had led the 2023-24 team in scoring (16.7 ppg), rebounding (5.1 rpg for the 5-5 guard) and steals (2.7 spg).

• The list of BGSU's leading career scorers can be found on page 25 of these notes, while the list of quickest Falcons to 1,000 points is on page six.

FLEMING CONTINUES TO CLIMB CAREER CHARTS
• Lexi Fleming is in her fifth season with the Falcons, but has played the equivalent of roughly three seasons in a BG uniform. She has been moving up the BGSU career scoring list at a rapid rate since returning to the court in early December, and enters the KSU game with 1,150 career points, ranking 26th in BGSU history. With an average of 12.37 points per game, Fleming is 11th on that BG career list.

• In her career, Fleming has now made 174 three-point field goals, good for ninth in school history. She is fifth on the BGSU career list for triples made per game (1.87). And, Fleming is 16th in school history in assists per game, with 2.73, and 17th in career free-throw percentage (79.3%).

• Additionally, she continues to move up on the career steals list. Fleming now has 203 steals as a Falcon, placing her eighth in BGSU history, and she is currently third in career steals per game (2.18).

VELASCO CONTINUES TO MOVE UP THE SCORING LIST AS WELL
• Amy Velasco is putting together a stellar senior season. Velasco has scored in double digits in 25 of the Falcons' 28 games to date, and is averaging a team-high 16.2 points per contest in 2024-25.

• Velasco has scored at least 20 points seven times this season, including in two of the last three games. She poured in a season-high 30 points in the Falcons' win over Toledo (Feb. 22), and followed that up with 22 points on Senior Night against Ohio.

• Velasco also had game-high totals of 28 points at Horizon League favorite Cleveland State and 24 points at nationally-ranked Ohio State.

• She recently moved into the top 20 on BGSU's career scoring list, and has continued to climb the leaderboard. With 1,491 career points, as mentioned earlier, Velasco currently ranks eighth on that list.

• Velasco has a career scoring average of 11.56 points per game, which currently places her 20th on that BGSU list. And, with a career total of 154 three-point field goals made, she is 15th on that BGSU chart.

• Velasco has a career free-throw rate of 83.4%, having made 321 of her 385 attempts from the stripe. She is ranked ninth on that BGSU career list.

AMY ALSO ACCUMULATES ASSISTS
• Amy Velasco, as mentioned, is now eighth on the BGSU career scoring list, and the senior also enjoys a lofty perch on the school's assists chart. She currently ranks sixth on that list, and now has 482 career dimes. Lindsay Austin (508 assists from 2000-04) holds down the fifth-place spot.

• Velasco currently ranks sixth in BGSU history in assists per game, with 3.74. If you were able to find the BGSU career scoring list elsewhere in these notes, you'll have no trouble finding the complete lists of both career assists and assists per game.

DONAHUE = DEFENSE
• Freshman Johnea Donahue has stepped up her production at both ends of the floor in recent weeks. She moved into the starting lineup prior to the Akron game on Jan. 29, and the Falcons have gone 7-2 since then.

• Donahue has scored in double figures in six of those nine games, including five of the last six, but arguably has made her biggest contributions at the defensive end of the court. Donahue had a total of eight steals – just two shy of the school's single-game record – in the win over Toledo (Feb. 22), and currently leads the entire MAC in steals per game, with 2.56.

NUMBER 3 HAS BEEN A KEY IN BGSU'S 4 ROAD WINS
• The Western Michigan game (Feb. 19) was the Falcons' fourth true road win this season. Freshman Johnea Donahue has played a key role in each of those wins.

• Donahue had 10 points, tying her career best at the time, along with a career-high eight rebounds in the win at Ohio (Jan. 15). She also had two assists and three steals.

• At Central Michigan (Feb. 1), she set a new career high with 12 points, and tied her career best with five assists. Donahue also had five rebounds and a pair of steals.

• Then, at Arkansas State (Feb. 8), Donahue exploded for career-high numbers in both points (19) and rebounds (10), as she went 8-of-9 from the field, including 2-of-2 from long range. Her lone steal came in the final minute with the game tied.

• And, she was a perfect 5-for-5 from the floor at WMU, with 13 points and six rebounds in that win.

• In the four road victories, Donahue has shot a combined 20-of-24 (83.3%) from the floor, including 3-of-3 from the arc. She averaged 13.5 points and 7.3 rebounds per game in those four contests.

THE FALCONS – A QUICK OVERVIEW
• The Falcons are 16-12 on the season, and BGSU is 9-7 in MAC play. BG currently sits in sixth place in the 12-team league. The Falcons saw a five-game winning streak come to an end with Saturday's (March 1) 84-77, double-overtime loss at Northern Illinois.

• BGSU's most recent home game was last Wednesday's (Feb. 26) 91-61 win over Ohio, a game in which the Falcons hit a school-record 18 three-point field goals. And, that win came on the heels of an 81-72 victory over arch-rival Toledo at the Stroh (Feb. 22).

• BGSU has won seven of the last nine games, with the lone regulation loss in that time coming at  MAC-leading Ball State (71-51, Feb. 5). The Falcons rebounded from that setback, hitting the road and beating Arkansas State, 75-73, in the MAC-Sun Belt Challenge (Feb. 8). That BG win snapped A-State's 11-game winning streak.

• Then, the Orange and Brown returned home and picked up a 70-55 win over Central Michigan (Feb. 15), before taking to the road once again and posting a 70-63 win at Western Michigan (Feb. 19).

• The loss at BSU had snapped a two-game winning streak that included an 82-69 home win over Akron (Jan. 29) and a 76-69 road victory against CMU (Feb. 1).

• BGSU's non-league schedule included home wins over Southern Miss, St. Bonaventure, Xavier and Marquette, with neutral-site victories vs. Stetson and Arkansas. The Falcons' five non-conference losses included road contests vs. two nationally-ranked teams (#13/12 West Virginia and #12/11 Ohio State), as well as Horizon League favorite Cleveland State.

• BGSU is 10-2 at home, 4-10 on the road and 2-0 in neutral-site games this season to date. In MAC play, the Falcons are 6-2 at the Stroh and 3-5 at hostile venues.

• Overall, the Falcons have a scoring margin of +2.6 and a rebounding margin of +3.4 this year. BG has outrebounded 16 of this season's first 28 opponents, with a rebounding margin of 10 or more in eight of those games to date. That includes a school record five games with a rebounding margin of +18 or better.

• Four players are scoring in double digits for the Orange and Brown. Senior Amy Velasco leads the way with 16.2 ppg, and she also paces the Falcons with 4.8 assists per contest. Velasco has scored in double figures in 25 of 28 games this season, including a 30-point explosion in the win over Toledo, and she is second on the club with 47 three-point field goals made. She is shooting a BG-best 42.0 percent from the arc, good for second in the MAC. Velasco leads the entire conference in both free-throw pct. (92.7%) and minutes played (36.02 mpg). She has made 94 career starts and has 76 career double-digit scoring games.

• Sophomore Paige Kohler and fifth-year Falcon Lexi Fleming have 13.3 and 12.5 ppg, respectively. Kohler also has 4.5 rebounds and 3.4 assists per game, and has made a team-leading 69 three-point field goals. She has flirted with a triple-double on several occasions this season, and is third in the MAC in minutes (34.82 mpg) and fourth in the league in assist/turnover ratio (1.70).

• Fleming has made 42 triples in her 21 games to date, and has 3.2 assists and 2.3 steals per game to rank second on the team in both categories. She has scored in double digits 15 times, including in each of the last five contests.

• Fifth-year collegian Erika Porter is averaging 10.3 ppg, and has a team-leading 5.6 rpg. Porter also leads the Falcons and is second in the MAC in field-goal pct. (54.7%).

• Freshmen Johnea Donahue and Lauren Gerken have 7.7 and 7.2 ppg, respectively. Donahue has scored in double digits in five of the last six games, and she leads the MAC with 2.56 steals per game, including a career-high eight vs. UT.

• Sophomores Keiryn McGuff and Taya Ellis are averaging 4.2 and 4.0 ppg, respectively. McGuff also has 3.8 rpg on the year. Ellis has 4.7 rpg on the season, ranking second on the team, and she leads BGSU with 0.9 blocks per game. Junior Kendal Moxey has 3.1 ppg and has gone 30-for-58 (51.7%) from the floor.

• In MAC play, Velasco (14.9 ppg), Kohler (14.3) and Fleming (13.6) all have scored between 217 and 239 points in the 16 games to date. Porter has 5.4 rpg, while Velasco (4.7 apg), Kohler (3.8) and Fleming (3.3) all are averaging over three assists per game vs. conference competition.

• Donahue and Fleming are tied for second in the entire MAC in steals in conference games, and Kohler leads the league in assist/turnover ratio, with Fleming and Velasco fourth and fifth, respectively, in that category. Velasco is first in the league in free-throw pct., with Porter second in the loop in field-goal pct. in league action.

• The Falcons returned seven players who saw action on the 2023-24 team that went 16-15 overall and 10-8 in MAC play. BG won four of the last six regular-season games, and the Falcons advanced to national postseason play with trip to the WNIT.

• BGSU's other returnees from last season are third-year Falcons Emily Siesel and Jasmine Fearne. Siesel played in 26 games off the bench last winter, while Fearne is back after missing the entire '23-24 campaign due to injury. Fearne is fourth on the Falcons with 20 successful triples in 2024-25 to date, while Siesel saw extended minutes against Ohio and had a career-high six points and a game- and career-best three steals.

• The Falcons' seven newcomers include a pair of junior-college transfers in Moxey and Kristiana Kulackovska, along with five freshmen – Donahue, Gerken, Laila Harrison, Sofia Moschen and Taylor Wallace. Moschen joined the team in the first week of January.

A QUICK LOOK AT THE GOLDEN FLASHES
• Kent State is 19-10 overall, and the Golden Flashes are 11-5 in MAC play, good for fourth place. KSU has won three-straight games, including road wins over league-leading Ball State (60-54; Feb. 22) and Akron (64-44; March 1).

• KSU is 11-3 in home games, 7-6 on the road and 1-1 in neutral-site contests this season to date. In MAC play, the Flashes are 6-2 at home and 5-3 on the road.

• Jenna Batsch leads the team with 16.5 ppg, while Mya Babbitt and Janae Tyler have 11.9 ad 11.6 ppg, respectively. Babbitt has made a team-leading 74 three-point field goals, and three other Flashes are scoring over eight ppg this season.

• Head coach Todd Starkey welcomed back 11 letterwinners, including three starters, from last year's team that finished 21-11 overall and 13-5 in the MAC. The 2023-24 Golden Flashes finished third in the conference regular-season standings, then proceeded to win the MAC Tournament and advance to the NCAA Championships.

THE SERIES
• The Falcons lead Kent State, 62-39, in the all-time series. BGSU played KSU more than any other opponent. Kent State has won the last two meetings, including this season's first matchup, 81-71 in Kent on New Year's Day. Last season, the Flashes snapped a six-game BG series winning streak with an 82-74 win at the Stroh Center (Jan. 27, 2024).

BGSU is 31-14 at home, 24-23 on the road and 7-2 in neutral-site meetings with the Flashes through the years. Additional series information can be found elsewhere in these very notes.

DOWN THE ROAD
• Following the KSU game, the Falcons will end the regular-season schedule at Eastern Michigan on Saturday (March 8). BGSU meets the Eagles in a 2:00 p.m. start at the George Gervin GameAbove Center.

• Then, the Orange and Brown will head to downtown Cleveland for the MAC Tournament. BGSU will play a quarterfinal-round game on Wednesday, March 12, at Rocket Arena, with start time and opponent to be determined. If the tournament started today, BG would be the sixth seed and would face Buffalo in the fourth game of the day.

FOR MORE INFORMATION...
For more information on BGSU women's hoops, be sure to follow the Falcons on Facebook (@BGWBB), Twitter/X (@BGSU_Athletics and @BGSUWBB) and Instagram (@bgsuwbb), as well as on the web at BGSUFalcons.com.